Workplace Video Recording Under Turkish Data Protection Law

Employers may use camera recordings in the workplace for various reasons, primarily for reasons of physical security and to ensure occupational health and safety.

The data collected through cameras are considered personal data within the scope of the Turkish Law on the Protection of Personal Data, and therefore the lawfulness of such video recording must be evaluated in terms of that Law as well as other relevant legislation. Video recordings for these purposes may be considered a lawful data processing activity, so long as certain obligations under the Law are fulfilled and the principle of proportionality is not exceeded.

Legal Grounds for Processing Personal Data

Under the data protection law, the general principle is that personal data must not be processed without the explicit consent of the data subject. However, the law provides that in certain cases personal data may be processed without explicit consent.